


Watching for Comets

by Noir_Kabuki



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Catra (She-Ra) Needs a Hug, F/F, Heists, Memory Loss, Post-Season/Series 05, did I mention heists
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-12
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-18 06:42:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29364192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Noir_Kabuki/pseuds/Noir_Kabuki
Summary: Catra knows nothing about her past.The first thing she remembers is waking up on a desolate husk of a planet, a chip embedded in the back of her neck and no idea where she comes from or who she is. Since then she has made her way in the universe, taking various questionably legal--but really fun--jobs with her companions Melog and Cox. Yet she cannot escape the empty void of her memory, nor the knowledge that she had something to do with the fallen emperor Horde Prime. Catra knows she'll have to face her past eventually... and she's not sure if she wants to. But when a series of unexpected events forces her to take action, she sets out across the cosmos, latched on to the one memory she has managed to retain: a face and a name.Adora.ORThe Space Outlaw Catra saga no one asked for.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Catra & OC
Comments: 74
Kudos: 126





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title inspired by the Skillet song “Watching for Comets.” Give it a listen!

Catra probably needed to rearrange her priorities.

Not because she was currently floating through outer space, untethered, toward the most secure facility in this solar system and all the surrounding solar systems. Not even because she was planning on robbing said facility, which no one to her knowledge had successfully done before. No, it was because all she could think at the moment was that she really wished her pilot would shut up already.

 _"So remember, Ted has point on this whole thing,"_ he chattered into her earpiece, _"to make sure you avoid the guards. And the cameras. Not that you're not stealthy, of course, especially with Melog--oh, and remember what we went over about the alarm system, or more specifically, how not to trip it--"_

"Yes! I know the plan, Cox, now can you please stop jabbering a hole into my head?" she snapped.

_"Yeah, yeah, I'm just trying to make sure we have every detail covered. This is too big a job for us to blow!"_

"I'm not going to blow it. And even if I do, shouldn't I be the more concerned of us? I'm the one actually going in there, and you're sitting all snug and cozy in the escape ship."

_"Don't worry, I won't abandon you unless it's absolutely necessary."_

Catra opened her mouth to make a biting retort, but then Melog mewed beside her. "You're right. We should probably stop."

_"I still don't get how you can understand that thing. You're weird, you know that right?"_

"You talk to your drone. You can't judge."

 _"Ted has a soul too!"_ he cried.

"And why do you even call it 'Ted?' What kind of dumb--"

_"You're almost in range of the camera."_

Melog used their magic to turn them invisible. When they passed under the camera, Catra unsheathed a claw and sliced its wires. One camera on the fritz wouldn't arouse too much suspicion, and now no one would notice the maintenance hatch opening.

 _"Over here,"_ Cox said, hovering his drone to indicate the spot. Floating along the underside of the huge structure, Catra went over to it and found the metal panel that would be their entryway. She cut through the lock easily and popped it open. A circuit board lay behind it, but there was just enough space to squeeze around it. She shimmied through first, then came Melog (who simply shrank to fit), then the drone, which paused to reseal the hatch with its tiny laser beam.

As the hatch closed, gravity took hold again. Catra pressed a button on her space suit, retracting it into a flat pack between her shoulders, then did the same for Melog. 

"Alright Cox," she said, "gimme some directions; I'm starting to get claustrophobic."

_"You've been in there for like two seconds!"_

"Let's just get a move on. We don't have all day."

_"Pipe to your 5 o'clock and up."_

She twisted around and spotted the air duct. A slight smirk tugged at her lips. Nobody else had pulled off this heist before... but they hadn't had readouts of the bank. Catra, however, had friends in high places.

The duct was made of a softer material than the hatch, and her claws made a clean hole in it.

_"Me first!"_ Cox cried, flying his drone into the tube. Melog, still small, went next. Catra followed, hoisting herself through the opening. It was a tight fit--her shoulders and hips nearly stuck--but by lying flat on her stomach she could manage. She envied Melog's ability to shrink. 

Ted the drone led the way while Catra army-crawled after it. The going was slow, and she started to cramp up. After about 20 minutes though, Cox announced, _"ok, this is our stop."_

Catra peered through the grate to the hallway below. From her vantage point she could see two security guards standing at the door, chatting idly and looking extremely bored. Well, their job was about to get a lot more exciting. 

Catra cut the grate's hinges and carefully maneuvered it into the air duct without a sound. "There's a camera just outside the vent," she whispered into her earpiece, barely audible. 

_"On it,"_ the pilot replied. Ted the drone exited the duct and sidled up to the camera, hugging the wall to keep out of its view. It activated its laser and burned through the wires. The guards kept on with their conversation, not even glancing up. 

Now Catra could make her move. 

The hardest part was actually getting out. The opening was small, even more so than the one she'd come in through. She squeezed her torso out first, then her legs. She balanced there for a brief second... 

...then she pounced. 

She dropped lightly to the floor, unclipping her weapon from her belt, and before the guards even had time to say, "what the--" she had downed them both with two stun blasts. 

_"Out quits!"_ Cox crowed. 

Catra and Melog were already moving. There were cameras spaced at regular intervals along both walls, but for Melog's invisibility, that wasn't a problem. 

_"There,"_ Cox said when they were about halfway down the hall, _"Vault 42."_

Catra examined what they were up against. Two metal double doors currently barred them from entry. A keypad denoted a passcode and there was also a pad for scanning fingerprints. Her claws weren't gonna bust through this one. So she stepped back and said, "work your magic, Melog." 

The big cat eyed the lock and started to glow (which was a little disconcerting paired with the invisibility). A soft beam of light floated to the lock and wove through the mechanism. After a few seconds, it sparked, whirred, then clicked. The doors slid open. 

_"That still gives me the jeebies,"_ Cox muttered, but his tone quickly gave way to excitement as he hovered Ted over the threshold. _"OK, let's see what's in there!"_

Before them was a large, mostly empty room lined with blinding white tiles. Red laser beams crisscrossed the floor, ceiling, and walls, creating an elaborate net around a single squat pedestal in the center of the room. Atop the pedestal sat a transparent cylinder about the length of Catra's forearm, filled with little pink shards of crystal. 

_"Well that's a little...anticlimactic,"_ Cox grumbled. _"I was expecting mountains of jewels or cold, hard cash."_

"For an employer of our level?" Catra pointed out. "Not likely. Whatever these crystals are, then must be super valuable." 

_"Well, bag 'em already!"_

__"Sheesh, and you call me pushy."_ _

She stepped cautiously into the vault and began to weave her way through the lasers. Others would have had a difficult time, but Catra was naturally lithe and agile; she had no trouble navigating the loopholes, dancing her way through the intricately woven web of danger. She reached the pedestal easily and snatched up the container of crystals. 

She was halfway back to the door when a sharp pain lanced through her spine. Catra gasped and her hand flew to the back of her neck; she froze where she was crouched on the floor. 

_A huge ship floating in the void of space, dozens of others swarming around it like so many wasps--_

_"Catra? Catra are you ok? Crap, this is not a good time!"_

Melog mewled nervously from the door. Catra hissed as another spark of pain flared up-- 

_\--a pool of green water, a chanting crowd, pain, pain, PAIN--_

_"Catra!"_ Cox's voice broke through to her. _"Catra, you gotta pull yourself together. Focus on my voice!"_

She grit her teeth and forced herself to keep moving. She jumped over a laser, rolled under one, gradually making her way toward the door... 

_"Yes, that's it. You're almost there!"_ her pilot encouraged. 

She could do this; the pain had almost subsided by now. She lifted a foot to step over a laser while simultaneously ducking under a second. Almost there... 

Then came a jolt of pain like someone driving a hot needle into the back of her neck, and another flash-- _a girl with blonde hair and blue-gray eyes--_

Catra lost her balance and fell onto the laser. 

Alarms began to screech. Catra and Cox swore in unison as Catra bolted for the door, ignoring all the other lasers she tripped. She shoved the crystals into the pouch Melog carried. Then they turned invisible and raced to the door at the end of the hall. They had planned on getting out via the air duct, but the bank had gone on lockdown and metal sheets had slammed over all the grates. 

_"What do we do?"_ Cox cried. 

"Bring the ship to the front of the bank. We'll improvise." 

She had barely finished speaking when the door flew open and a squad of guards burst in. Two halted to arouse the unconscious ones on the floor while the rest ran ahead to the vault. Catra, Melog, and the drone flattened against the wall to let them pass, then slipped out. 

The hallways were blocked off, the doorways shut and locked. The trio turned a couple of corners and hit a few dead ends before Catra found what she was looking for: a security guard wearing an officer's uniform, shouting into a radio. She took them down with a stun blast and proceeded to fish around in their pockets. After a moment she pulled out a flat, sliver keycard and grinned. 

"Follow me," she told Melog and Ted. 

They tore through the building, Catra opening doors as they went. Images continued to flash against her eyes, so she kept one hand on Melog to ground her as they hurried to the upper levels. The security forces all ran right by them. 

"Which way to the main security room?" she asked Cox. 

_"Hang on...it should be just down the hall, a couple of left turns."_

They followed the directions and arrived at an important-looking door. She swiped the card and it slid open. They stepped inside and it closed behind them. Only one person glanced up, and upon seeing nothing suspicious, merely frowned and went back to work. 

There were about seven people of various species seated at consoles around the room, washed in the stark glow of many screens. They were chattering in frustrated tones--probably trying to find out how the infiltrator was giving them the slip. 

Seven against two (she wasn't counting the drone). Catra liked those odds. 

She signaled to Melog to drop the invisibility. They gave her a confused look but consented. She ignored Cox hissing, _"what are you doing?"_ in her ear and casually said, "hey guys." 

They all whirled around, and in an instant had their weapons trained on her. She downed two of them with her own before they could get off a single shot, then sprang forward, dodging stun blasts, and took out a third with a couple of well-placed kicks. Two more lunged at her. Melog pounced on one while Catra dealt with the other, twisting their arm to disarm them and then knocking them out with a hit from their own weapon. She then used it to stun the one Meolg had pinned. A blast came from the sixth, which she leapt onto the console to avoid. She chucked the weapon at them and then flipped onto their shoulders, catching them in a headlock with her legs. She jerked them onto the floor and bashed her knee into their temple. That left only the seventh, who had been cowering behind their chair the whole time. 

_"You scare me sometimes, Catra,"_ Cox said. 

She and Melog walked over to the last guard, Melog's mane red and bristling. Catra leaned casually against the back of the chair and smirked down at the quivering guard. 

"Hey there. So how do you deactivate the lockdown?" 

Two minutes later she and Melog were sprinting towards the hangar with Ted the drone flying behind them, invisible again. The sudden raising of the lockdown had sown even more confusion. Everywhere they went there were guards jabbering into radios, trying to figure out what in tarnation was going on. 

They reached the hangar without incident. "We're here," Catra said through the comms, "where are you?" 

_"Perfect timing,"_ he replied. Even as he spoke, a sleek ship came into view. It was teardrop shaped and solid white, except for the gaudy geometric designs on its exterior. It pulled into the hangar and lowered its ramp without bothering to land. The trio jumped aboard just as a couple of guards rushed in."Hey you!" they yelled. "Stop in the name of law!" 

Catra waved cheekily and disappeared into the ship. 

The ship departed as they hurried into the bridge. The pilot sat in a hover chair in the middle of the room, surrounded by holographic screens. He was about Catra's age (vaguely... it wasn't like she knew her age), a squinty-eyed humanoid with blue-tinged skin and two boney crests arching across his scalp. The drone immediately clipped onto the back of his chair. 

"Ted!" he exclaimed ecstatically. "You're back!" 

"We're fine too, thanks for asking." 

"Have you got the stuff?" 

"Melog does." 

"Well then let's get-- uh oh," he stuttered, "bogies on our six." 

Catra glanced out the window and confirmed that several police craft were on their tail. "Want me to man the gun turret?" 

"Nah. The way I fly, they'll never catch us. Just strap in. It'll take a minute for the FTL engine to charge." 

Catra obediently took a seat and buckled up. Melog shrank and jumped into her lap. 

A transmission came through from the voice ships. _"Unidentified spacecraft, you are ordered to cease and desist immediately. Deactivate your engines and prepare for boarding."_

Cox switched off his comms and said, "no, I don't think so," to no one in particular. Then he opened the ship up. 

The sudden burst of speed startled the police, who sped to catch up. One of them dove at them from the side. Cox responded by bringing the ship up and _over_ them, then diving through a narrow opening made by a couple more. The police spun on their heels trying to alter course. 

Suddenly Catra felt another stab of pain. She yelped and pressed one hand to the nape of her neck. 

_\--a tall, golden building, viewed from the shadows by an unseen scout--_

"You okay back there?" Cox asked. When a glance back determined that she wasn't, he continued, "ok, well hang in there. We're almost out." 

He executed a perfect backwards loop, throwing off their pursuers yet again. He completed the 360 just as they were turning around to fly the other way, zipping right by them. Those police vessels might as well have been chasing their own tails. 

Meanwhile, Catra clenched her jaw and squeezed her eyes shut against the flashes. 

_\--ranks of hooded soldiers in white, green eyes glowing as they listened to the figure standing above them deliver an incomprehensible speech--_

_\--the tank of green water, the pain--_

_\--the blue-eyed girl, again--_

"We have Faster Than Light!" Cox whooped, and stabbed the button. They shot into space, leaving the police far behind. 

The pilot swiveled his hover chair around and gave her a concerned look. "You alright?" 

She took a deep breath. "I'm fine. It's passed." 

Melog placed their front paws on her chest and licked her face. She smiled. 

"Well, you just rest," Cox advised, "we'll be there in a few hours." 

"OK," she replied, unstrapping her seat belt. Melog jumped down and grew to their normal size. Catra stood and they left the cockpit. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will never get over the fact that Catra was able to cut through a steel wall with nothing but her claws. It’s stuff like that that almost makes me believe all the conspiracy theories about Catra being a princess.  
> But this is not one of those stories, oh no! This is the space outlaw Catra fic you didn’t want but you get anyway! I will try to update as regularly as possible, but I can make no promises. Hope you enjoy!
> 
> *Note: “Out quits” is not technically correct, it’s “quits” or “out cold”... but I love making up space slang. :)


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout out to my beta reader, a.k.a my little sister who is nevertheless excellent at catching grammatical errors and making my sentences make sense!

_When Catra came to, she was staring up at the stars. The ground beneath her was hard and rocky, and the air was cold and stale._

_For a moment she was calm, her mind blank. She sat up and glanced down at herself; she was dressed in a strange white outfit with a black symbol like two bat wings emblazoned on it._

_She stood and looked around. The landscape was barren and empty, dark except for the light of the stars and a weak moon. She was on..._

_Where was she?_

_Why was she here?_

_Who was she?_

_Catra reached back, trying to remember, but came up with nothing. Her mind was as dark and empty as the world around her. Panic clawed at her chest and threatened to suffocate her; without thinking about it she started running, screaming, calling out for somebody, anybody--_

_But there was no one._

_She realized that very quickly, and somehow it helped to clear her head. She took a deep breath and forced the fear down. Now was clearly not the time to freak out. There must be someone to at least some **thing** that could help her figure out who she was and what she was doing here._

_So she started walking._

***

There were no stars in Faster Than Light. Typically when you looked out a spaceship window you could make out at least a few pinpricks of light, giving you some indication that your eyes were open, some sense of being awake and moving.

But when traveling at FTL, there was none of that. The ship was simply outrunning the light, so the void outside seemed even darker than usual.

Some people found the infinite darkness fascinating. Not Catra. She missed the stars, and could spend hours staring at them when they were there... which confused her. After all, it wasn't like she had spent her whole life without stars.

Then again, she supposed she couldn't assume anything about what her life had been like before waking up on Krytis. Prior to that point, her mind was completely empty. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't remember anything before it. There were only four things she knew for certain.

1: Her name was Catra. She could not recall who had given her that name or even if it was her real name, but it was there and it felt right, so that was what she went by.

2: She knew how to fight. This wasn't a memory so much as muscle memory. She simply knew the moves and could perform them without even thinking about it. Maybe that should scare her, but it didn't. She absolutely could have taken those security guards down while invisible--it would have been the smart thing to do-- but she had traded stealth for the thrill, the sheer catharsis of a fight. It wasn't the first time she had done so.

Perhaps she had been a soldier. That would make sense, given the third thing she knew about herself.

3: She had had something to do with Horde Prime. She only knew this because she had woken up in the uniform of his clones. She hadn't even known who the guy was, but when she had gotten off of Krytis she had entered a universe celebrating his defeat at the hands of some magical hero. She had quickly learned that he had ruled with an iron fist for centuries and he was hated by pretty much everyone in the cosmos. So that didn't bode well for her.

There was one other thing...

Catra reached under her mane of hair and touched cold, smooth circle of metal embedded in her flesh. It was the source of her hallucinations and probably the amnesia too. It could have come from anywhere, but she knew it had been Horde Prime's doing because there were thousands of people with one. Anyone who had rebelled against the former emperor or served him directly had received a similar chip. Catra figured she fell in the latter category, since she had been wearing a Horde uniform--and since the first people who had seen her in it had tried to kill her.

She supposed she should have it taken out. With all the jobs she'd pulled in the past two years, she had more than enough money to afford surgery. She could just play the role of another of the Horde's many victims. But something held her back. It wasn't just because she was naturally mistrustful of people (although that was part of it--Cox had only earned her trust through merit and shared experience). Horde Prime had been an oppressive, evil tyrant in every way. If she had been a servant of his... then maybe her past wasn't worth chasing.

Besides, as impractical as the chip was, she could manage. She'd just had a major episode in the middle of a heist and had still pulled it off without a hitch. So she kept it in, grew her hair out to hide it, and if anybody (as in Cox) asked, she just told them she had epilepsy.

The fourth thing may have been the biggest mystery of them all.

4: She remembered a girl. She had blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail with a dumb little poof at the top, and her eyes were a gray-blue color, depending on the light. Her name was Adora.

That was all Catra knew about her. She had no idea how she knew her or who she was. Still, the fact that she could remember her at all indicated that Adora met have meant something to her--right? Or maybe they were mortal enemies.

Catra sighed. Basically, her life was a mess.

Sensing her agitation, Melog purred and licked her hand comfortingly. She smiled and stroked their head. Melog was one of her very first memories, and one of her only good ones...

***

_Catra didn't know how long she had been walking before she finally came across a sign of civilization. Or more likely, the ruins of a civilization. It was a huge, twisted metal structure lying haphazardly on the ground. She doubted it was stable, and it probably was not safe to go in there, but she had nowhere else to go, and she might find some clue as to where she was. So she ventured within._

_It was truly colossal. She roamed its halls for ages, searching, but found nothing. She could tell nothing about this place, except that something felt... off. There was something foreboding in the atmosphere. She became disoriented and jumpy, unable to place the nagging feeling._

_When her hand sank into a wall, she really knew that something was wrong. She yanked it free and started running--now all she wanted was to get out of here. But the corridors were a maze, and she only made herself more lost desperately trying to find a way out._

_Catra turned a corner and ran down the hall. Eventually, though, she stumbled to a halt. No corridor should be this long--it seemed to just keep going and going, no matter how far down it she peered._

_Was it this place? Or was she crazy? Who had put her here, and why? Catra fought to keep the panic down..._

_She didn't so much hear the thing behind her as sensed it. Slowly, she turned to face it._

_Standing before her was this tall, gangly THING, its skin tone a deep, dark purple with a semi-transparent blue mane swirling about its faceless head._

_A fight-or-flight response electrified her brain, and before she could even think about what she was doing, she let out a guttural yell and leapt at the thing._

_Somehow, they fell through the floor, and Catra landed hard on the rocky surface. The creature had transformed into a catlike beast and was prowling around her, snarling as its mane and tail glowed red. She cowered, all traces of bravado gone. The air shimmered as the thing became invisible, and when it reappeared its teeth were inches from Catra's face._

_Then the most inexplicable thing happened. Catra sneezed._

_The beast stopped growling. It sat back on its haunches, its mane becoming a soft blue again. For a moment it considered her with those big, turquoise eyes. Then, as if this wasn't weird enough already, it echoed her sneeze._

_A moment of silence passed while Catra processed her shock. She reached out tentatively. At first the creature snarled, but when she whispered, "it's okay. I'm not going to hurt you," it calmed down and allowed her to touch it. She stroked its nose, and it purred gently. A slight smile tugged at Catra's lips. This thing wasn't so scary after all._

_The big cat mewed... and suddenly, she could hear it **talking.** Or maybe 'talking' wasn't quite the right word... more like she could sense what it was conveying and her brain translated it into words she could understand. It was like it had imprinted on her... because it trusted her? Why? They had just met!_

_Nevertheless, it went on to tell her its story. Their name was Melog, and this planet was called Krytis. It had once been a beautiful planet home to many magical creatures like themself. But many, many years ago, bad people had come seeking that magic, hoping to gain power for themselves. They had fought over the planet, driving it to ruin. Melog had done all they could, eventually, frightening them away, but they could not prevent their home's destruction, and now they were the last of their kind. Now Catra understood why Melog trusted her. They saw themself reflected in her._

_Melog was alone. And Catra was alone._

***

From that day on, however, neither of them had been alone. Melog had escaped Krytis with her--had been instrumental in doing so, as a matter of fact-- and ever since they had stuck together. The magical cat was her closest companion and best friend, and she was theirs.

Catra's thoughts were interrupted by the pilot's voice crackling over the intercom. _"Heyo, we're coming up on Voridon."_

"Roger that," she called.

A few minutes later, they dropped to STL (Slower Than Light) speeds. Looking out the window, Catra could make out their destination in the distance. The city of Voridon was situated on a massive asteroid, protected from the crushing vacuum of space by a sphere surrounding the whole thing. Shining towers jutted out from its surface at all angles-- not just from the top, but also from the sides, and there were even ones that hung upside down. It had a reputation as an economic hub; the headquarters of several galaxy-wide businesses and home to many corporate leaders. Now the sort of place one would expect a crew of notorious outlaws to make a transaction...but life was full of surprises. 

Catra waited while Cox brought the ship through the shield and docked. After they were secured, he met her at the ramp. "Ready?" she asked.

"To get rich? What are we waiting for!"

They made a strange procession: a predator-sized cat alongside a humanoid with catlike features and another in a hover chair with a drone. But Voridon had seen stranger, and no one paid them much attention as they made their way to Frontier Enterprises.

The company's HQ was one of the tallest, shiniest, most pretentious buildings in the city. It was the main office of some big commercial space line--Catra didn't really care. They entered through the front doors and she strolled right up to the receptionist.

"Hey there," she greeted casually, "we're here to see Bok Chun. Is he in today?"

"Do you have an appointment?" the lady behind the counter inquired, barely glancing up.

"Oh, I'm pretty sure he'll see us. We're on important business."

Now she did look up, and frowned at Catra's sly smirk and the motley group behind her. Before she could say anything, however, an agent in a suit walked up to them and coughed pointedly. Catra recognized them from their meeting with their employer. "Excuse me, please follow me."

The group got into the turbo lift and the agent pressed the button for the top floor. "In the future, please refrain from interacting with the general staff," they said.

"Right, sorry," Catra replied, "wouldn't want anybody thinking your boss is dealing with criminals or something ridiculous like that."

The agent scowled.

They reached the highest floor and were led down a short hall until they came to a fancy door marked B. CHUN. The agent knocked and a haughty voice said, "enter." They did so.

The office was huge, unnecessary space taken up by cushy chairs and shelves full of holopads. Facing the door was a huge semicircular desk made of shiny metal, behind which sat a human man, broad-shouldered with dark hair that was falling out and a scruffy beard that he should probably just shave off. He waved his hand at the agent, who left.

"So, you made it out alive," he said by way of greeting.

"You underestimate our bank-robbing skills, my good friend!" Cox exclaimed.

"Where is it?" Chun demanded flatly.

"OK, OK, so much for polite small talk," Catra grumbled, pulling the container of crystals out of Melog's pouch. She slapped it down on the desk.

A greedy gleam entered Chun's eyes as he picked it up and peered inside. "Perfect," he murmured.

"Wanna tell us what is actually is?" Cox pressed. "The suspense is killing me!"

"It is jet fuel," the CEO replied, "extremely potent and extraordinarily rare. It shall set me bounds ahead of my competitors."

Catra cleared her throat. "They're also extremely expensive, yes?"

"Yes, yes." He pulled up a screen and typed in a series of commands. Catra checked her wrist display and Cox the screen on the arm of his hoverchair to confirm the credit transfer. Even split 50/50, it was more money than either of them had ever made on a job.

She gave a two-fingered salute. "Pleasure doing business with you."

They turned to leave, but then Chun asserted, "one moment, Catra. There are further matters I wish to discuss."

Cox raised an eyebrow curiously, but just as quickly dismissed it. "You gonna need a ride?"

"Nah, I'll catch a transport. Later."

"Call if it's another big job," he said with a grin, and hovered out.

Turning back to the CEO, Catra flopped down into a chair and kicked her feet up on the desk. "So, what's up, Mr. Big-Time? Need another heist pulled off? I feel quite sure I've established my reputation by now."

"Not exactly. You see, shortly after we made our deal, I was approached by an organization that has quite an interest in you."

"Is it the Kabosh gang again? Because I already told them no."

"These people are slightly more... influential," he replied. Was that fear she noted in his voice? "I cannot claim to know what they want with you, but it was certainly lucrative for me."

Catra's tail swished nervously. "Alright, what is this?"

As if on cue, the door behind her opened. Melog snarled, their mane and tail turning red. Catra shot to her feet, spinning around--and her heart stopped.

They were completely identical, with skull-shaped faces, pointed ears, and solid green eyes. They wore dark cloaks to hide their white uniforms, but she could still glimpse the black symbol beneath. Any citizen of the galaxies born in the past few centuries would have recognized them.

Horde clones.

They had come for her.

Melog roared and leapt at them. One of the clones lifted a weapon and blasted them with a bolt of green electricity. They collapsed.

"NO!" Catra screamed, and attacked the clones with claws unsheathed. She dodged one blast, two, and slashed at the first clones' face, only to be hit in the temple with a punch from the second. Her vision swam, and before she could recover they blasted her. She cried out and crumbled to the floor.

"It's not personal," she heard Chun say hazily, "it's just business."

"You...slimy little..." But that was all she could force out before everything went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the plot thickens! Pretty exposition heavy chapter, but I promise the next few have plenty of action! Hang in there!
> 
> P.S: I agree. Cliffhangers suck. Just don't sue me.


	3. Chapter 3

A spark of pain jolted Catra back to consciousness. She gasped and jerked to the side so hard that she knocked over the chair she was strapped to. Her face met the floor with a _smack_. "Ouch," she muttered.

"Ah, good. You are awake, little sister," said a voice.

Somebody righted the chair and Catra took in her surroundings. She was in a sterile white room illuminated by pale green lights. The ceiling arched high above, and marching upward into the gloom were rows upon rows of pods, each one occupied by a sleeping Horde clone. One such clone stated before her, his blank eyes boring into her. Turning her head, Catra spotted a couple more of them standing off to the side.

She yanked at the cuffs restraining her, but to no avail, and she fought to stay calm. "Where am I?" she demanded.

"You have been returned to the glory of Horde Prime," the clone facing her intoned. "You were lost but now you are found. Be welcomed back into Horde Prime's light, little sister."

OK, this was beyond creepy. "What do you want with me? And where's Melog?"

The clone, ignoring her second question (or possibly both; she couldn't exactly tell), said, "you have wandered for too long, but now you will reenter Prime's army and share in his empire when it rises again."

Reenter. So she had been a member of the Horde. Well, if they thought she was going back into this messed-up cult, then they were much mistaken. "You can keep my share, thanks. I don't want any part of this."

"Fear not, little sister. Your chip had been damaged, disconnecting you from the hive mind, or else we would have found you sooner. Once you are reconnected, you will see the futility of resistance."

Catra pulled at her bonds again. "No, really, that's okay. I'm good with having a mind of my own, and I'm sure you'll be fine without me, so if you could just unlock these I'll be on my merry way."

The clone's frown deepened slightly, but otherwise his expression remained unchanged. "There is no escaping the dominion of Horde Prime. Soon all the universe will bask in his light."

"Did you seriously just say 'bask?' You people have issues."

The clone continued as if she had not spoken. "The empire of Horde Prime cannot be defeated. You will play your part in time, little sister. But first you must be brought back into the light."

The two other clones came up to her and undid her cuffs. Catra lunged forward but they caught her in an ironlike grip and dragged her towards one of the pods. She kicked at them and thrashed, but they were deceptively strong and wrestled her into it, locking her down.

 _"Let me out of here!"_ she screamed. She was not doing this, she refused, she didn't want this--

A wire snaked out of the pod and latched onto the chip in her neck. Catra tensed up as a shudder ran down her spine.

"Prime casts out all shadows," the first clone declared. Suddenly all the others came awake as well and chanted in terrifying unison.

"Cast out the shadows, cast out the shadows, cast out the shadows..."

Catra yelled as images poured into her mind.

_Falling into a pool of green water, pain, and then blankness._

_A pale alien, a monster with four reptilian eyes, reclining on a throne as she knelt._

_A Horde clone with red eyes instead of green._

"All beings must suffer to become pure, all beings must suffer to become pure, all beings must suffer to become pure..."

_There was a planet. For centuries it had been cut off from the universe, hidden in rebellion against Horde Prime. Now it had returned, bringing its evil magic with it and spreading it across the galaxies like a disease. Those who lived there were the enemies of Prime. They had driven them into the shadows for a brief time, but they would regret standing against the might of Prime._

_They would suffer for their insolence. The plan was already in motion._

_Another planet. Golmeyer. A golden castle, destined for destruction._

_Faces, familiar but gone too fast to make out--except one._

_A girl with blonde hair and blue-grey eyes._

_She-Ra. A villain, the enemy of Horde Prime--_

NO. Adora. her name was Adora.

Catra clung to that name like a lifeline and fought back against their control. They could not have her! Her mind was her own until they pried it from her cold, dead body.

But the chip was overpowering. She could feel the shadow of their machine creeping into her head, encouraging her to give in. She could feel her thoughts fading, replaced by theirs...

_No! Fight it!_

Just when Catra thought she couldn't hold it back anymore, it shut off. She blinked in confusion. Out of her peripheral vision she could see the wire dangling from its outlet, sparking. Something had abruptly disconnected from her chip. 

"What?" growled a Horde clone, stepping forward. Suddenly though, he was knocked to the ground by some invisible force, closely followed by the other two.

"Melog!" Catra cried in relief.

The magical cat appeared, having disposed of the three clones, and ran to her. They used their magic on the latches restraining her and she tumbled unceremoniously out of the pod. Giving Melog a big hug, she breathed, "thanks, buddy. I owe you one."

But there was no time to celebrate. The rest of the clones had seen what had happened and were starting to yank free of their pods, roaring in anger.

"Run!" Catra shouted, and proceeded to take her own advice. On the other side of the room was a green shield that she assumed was the door. She pounded on it, but it flashed red and obstinately refused to open. "Come on, you stupid door!" she hollered.

Several clones ran at them. Melog snarled and pounced at them, bowling over three at once. One lunged at Catra and she kicked him squarely in the chest, sending him crashing into one of his brothers. Another threw a punch. She grabbed his arm and pulled hard, using his own momentum to send him flying into the door. It deactivated at his touch.

"Huh. How 'bout that," she commented. Then she started running again.

As they tore through the ship Catra asked Melog, "you wouldn't happen to have found us a way out of here, would you?" They chirped in affirmation and took the lead, navigating confidently through the labyrinth of corridors.

Catra could hear the Horde soldiers right on their heels, calling out for her to stop fighting and join their brotherhood or something. Yeah, no thanks. They barreled around a corner only to find group of clones there. Without missing a beat, she threw herself at them, ramming her shoulder into the nearest one's gut and shoving him into another. Melog crashed into the other twos' legs, tripping them. They were off again before they had even hit the floor.

They ran as fast as their legs could carry them, but they were in enemy territory. They encountered Horde soldiers at nearly every turn, in pairs and trios and sometimes larger groups, and of course there was still the main contingent behind them. Catra fought tooth and nail, trusting Melog to guide the way but great nova, how big was this ship? Her breathing became labored and she ached as she took more and more hits. They steadily lost ground--those clones never seemed to tire! They caught up and Catra went down as one of them tackled her.

She hit the ground rolling and threw him off of her, whirling to face the rest. Melog halted and came to her defense. The two of them fought as best they could, Catra slashing at their faces and delivering punches and kicks, Melog biting and pouncing, but it was no use. They were far outnumbered.

A clone slipped past their defense and grabbed Catra. Before she could react, he kneed her hard in the ribs. All the breath rushed out of her lungs and she crumbled. The clones set upon her like a pack of wolves. She hissed and flailed wildly, swinging her claws at anything that moved, but she was completely overwhelmed. 

Then, through the chaos and the panic, she heard Melog. They were telling her to close her eyes. She obeyed, and no sooner than she had there was a flash of light that seared through her eyelids. The clones' grip on her released.

When she opened her eyes, they were all on the floor or stumbling around, pressing their hands to their eyes and moaning in pain. "Now I owe you two," she said.

They took off again, sprinting for a short distance until Melog finally led her into another room, this one with a regular door. As it shut behind them she turned and slashed the lock. "That should hold them."

There was a device set into the floor of the room that Catra recognized as a standard teleportation beam. Melog shoved her into it and ran to the console, shifting into a more humanoid form so they could manipulate the controls. Outside, the clones pounded on the door, their enraged shouts barely muffled. A crack appeared as they began to force it open, their clawlike hands shoving their way inside. "Melog? Any time now," Catra called nervously.

They finished putting in coordinates and punched the activation switch. A beam of green light emanated from the floor. Returning to their cat form, Melog leapt into it just as the clones broke through. Catra caught one last glimpse of their ugly faces before winking out of corporeality. 

***

Catra really hated teleporting. Even if it only lasted for a second, the feeling of your entire body being forced through nothing is just _wrong_. It made her nauseous.

Fortunately, it was over quickly. The next thing she knew, she was falling out of the portal and landing on her back with a **whumpf**. She groaned and lay there for a second while her atoms got used to being tangible again. Then from behind her she heard, "uuuuhhhh..."

Tilting her head back, she spotted a person in overalls--a dockworker of some description--gaping at her like she'd just dropped out of space. Which was fair, since she had.

"Oh hey," she said, "where's the nearest transport hub?"

She knew she would have to get out of there fast before it was overwhelmed by Horde soldiers chasing her. She had an apartment, but didn't want to risk going back there. If the Horde hadn't found it already, then they could easily enough. So she caught a transport going to the next best place she knew: the Jarrus Space Station.

The ride was several hours long and Catra was exhausted, but she was too nerve-wracked to try and sleep. Her chip kept sparking, and she couldn't clear her mind of all that she had seen.

Golmeyer. The name was vaguely familiar to her--some fancy pants planet in Quadrant 437. The Horde had something planned for it, a terrorist attack probably. She recalled the faces that had flashed through her mind. Princesses. And Adora. But what part was she supposed to play? Maybe it had been a coincidence and she'd just happened to get captured right as they were making their move.

Somehow, Catra didn't think she was that lucky.

Catra and Melog disembarked at Jarrus Space Station and headed straight for the docks. She identified Cox's hangar by the obnoxiously loud music and went right inside. 

Cox was sitting with his back to her, banging his head along with the music while typing away at a screen--redesigning the holo images on his ship so the cops couldn't ID it. "Cox!" she called. When he did not respond, she went over to his sound system and unplugged it.

Immediately he whirled his hoverchair around. _"Who dares to harsh my vibe?!_ Oh, it's you Catra. Welcome! Did Chun give you another big job?"

"Chun sold me out," she growled.

"That no-good son of a Slyverian monkey! Sold you out to who?"

She hesitated, unsure how much to trust him with. "Some... some people from my past." She had been about to say 'old enemies,' but then remembered that she had probably been one of them.

"Whatever happened to you not having a past?"

"Exactly," she replied, flopping down in a chair.

"What did they want?" Cox pursued.

"I don't know," Catra snapped, "and that is going to be the answer to everything you ask me, so just don't even try. I don't know what they want with me or even what I had to do with them and nothing has jarred any memory so I am completely in the dark and I don't know what to do!"

Cox shifted uncomfortably and mumbled, "sorry." She felt a little bad--not getting angry was something she had been working on, and she didn't mean to just barge in and lay all this on him. But she really had nowhere else to go, and now was not a good moment to be giving her a hard time.

So they sat in awkward silence for a few minutes before she spoke up again. "Turn on the news; find out what's happening on Golmeyer."

He frowned. "Golmeyer? What's that got to do with anything?"

"Something I... overheard my captors discussing. I think they're planning something bad."

Cox pulled up another screen and searched 'Golmeyer.' A news feed appeared, the android anchor saying, "...excited to welcome members of the Etherian Princess Alliance tomorrow. This is the Etherian's first visit to Golmeyer and will be an important diplomatic meeting. the princesses wish to thank Governor Anidala of Golmeyer for her invaluable work in stabilizing Quadrant 437's self-governance after the defeat of Horde Prime, including driving out the remaining Horde forces. In addition, they hope to give Golymeyer and its people a taste of magic and restore it to the planet itself if possible. The Etherian delegation consists of: Queen Glimmer of Brightmoon; Tech and Archery Master Bow; Princess Scorpia of the Fright Zone; Princess Entrapta of Dryl; Herbert, a former Horde soldier who defected to the Rebellion; and Princess Adora, also known as She-Ra, Princess of Power and the vanquisher of Horde Prime."

An image of each person flashed on the screen as they were named, ending with Adora. Catra reached over and paused the feed, freezing it on her face. She stared long and hard at the picture. it was Adora, but not as she remembered her. For one thing, she was at least eight feet tall and wore a white-and-gold outfit--boots emblazoned with wings, the rough outline of a heart on her chest, and a gold helm framed her long, flowing hair. Her eyes, though tinted gray in her mind, glowed bright blue. Catra knew a little bit about She-Ra (it would be impossible not to), but never would have connected her to the one memory of her past.

She stared for so long that Cox began to feel awkward. "She-Ra," he prompted, "pretty cool, huh?"

"Adora," she said quietly.

He looked back and forth between her and the screen. "You don't _know_ her, do you?"

Catra grit her teeth. "I don't know how I do or who she was to me, but she's just... in my head. She's..." She cut off in frustration.

"I know you don't want me to push you right now," he went on cautiously, "but I gotta ask. Who were these people that captured you?"

For a long moment, Catra was silent. It was hard to admit it to anyone, but there was no getting out of the question now. Plus, Cox had been a good friend to her. He deserved an honest answer. So she confessed, "the Horde."

"I see." Catra glared at him, waiting for him to say more, but that was it. When she couldn't take it anymore she snapped, "well? Gonna call the authorities and report a rogue Horde soldier or what?"

He shook his head. "No. Even if you were one of them, you're clearly not anymore. I trust you."

She blinked in surprise, then her face softened. She gave him a nod of thanks and turned back to the screen, hitting play. The news report continued, detailing the Etherian's trip to Golmeyer as well as its governor's efforts to clear away any Horde remnants. "I think I get it," she said eventually. "This Horde faction is trying to bring the empire back. They want to make a statement--take out all these people who stood against them in one blow." She turned to Cox. "I have to go there."

"Are you sure?" he asked. "I mean, no judgement or anything, but if you were--you know-- part of the Horde... how do you know the princesses won't kill you on sight?"

Catra didn't answer immediately, instead glancing back at the screen. It had cut to another image of Adora--really Adora this time, not She-Ra. Cox made a good point. If she had been a Horde soldier, chances were that she and Adora had been enemies and she would happily turn that giant sword on her.

So why did it bring Catra comfort just to be able to picture her face?

"I have to," she finally told Cox. "This could be my shot at figuring out who I am."

He nodded. "I'll fire up the ship." 

"What? No, Cox, I don't want to drag you into this."

"Oh please, the event is happening the next Golmeyer day. You'll need a really fast ship if you want to get there in time, and you won't find faster than this baby. Besides," he added with a grin, "maybe we'll end up saving them from the big bad Horde and they'll be super grateful and give us a big reward."

Catra rolled her eyes and called him a mooch. Five minutes later, they were underway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaaand I'm back, and things are getting into full swing. Brace yourself, because the next chapter is going to have lots of explosions, literally and otherwise.
> 
> I hope y'all are still enjoying this! Your kudos and sweet comments always make my day. Thank you!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaaaand we're back! I hope you guys like explosions, cause I've got lots of them for you!

If there was one thing the past two years had taught Catra, it was that getting in was always way easier than getting out. So the security checkpoint didn't faze her. Cox was a different story.

"How are we supposed to get through that?" he asked nervously.

Catra scoped it out: security drones funneled incoming ships to a certain point just within the atmosphere, where they were directed through an enormous scanning ring with dozens more drones surrounding it. "Shouldn't be a problem," she replied. "Fly through it."

"You crazy?"

"Just do it."

Cox frowned but did as ordered. As they approached the checkpoint, Melog began to glow. They faded in and out of sight, their magic reaching out and wrapping around the ship itself. The pilot watched open-mouthed. "Don't tell me we're invisible right now."

Catra grinned. "Through the checkpoint, my good man."

Cox descended and cruised right under the waiting line of ships and past the security barrier. "Have they been able to that this whole time?!" he burst out. "You know how much fun I could have had with this?"

He lowered the ship through the sky until the Capitol Building came into view. Upon seeing it, the first thing Catra said was, "well this place is pretentious."

The Capitol Building was every inch the shining castle she had seen in her visions--and then some. It was a huge golden eyesore stuck on top of a mountain just to make sure no one missed it. Catra highly suspected that a large part of 'stabilizing the self-governance of Quadrant 437' had involved buffing this place up. If the Horde didn't beat her to it, she thought she might just blow it up herself.

She pointed to a nearby copse of trees. "Set down over there."

There was only a thin clearing to land the ship in, but Cox maneuvered expertly and touched down with hardly a bump. He lowered the ramp and announced, "I'll keep the engine running."

"Good," she replied, "this could go south in a hurry. I'll stay on comms the whole time."

"And I'm sending Ted with you. You could use an extra set of eyes."

Catra completely agreed. She, Melog, and the drone made their way toward the door, but then Cox called, "Catra." She stopped and looked at him. He gave her a thumbs-up and said, "good luck."

She smiled and returned the thumbs-up, then exited. They left the ship and walked the short distance to the edge to of the trees. Becoming invisible, they crossed the docking bay and slipped right past the security guards identifying guests at the gate. They found themselves in a vast courtyard carpeted by a perfectly manicured lawn. Narrow, circuitous paths directed pedestrians to a grand staircase, which in turn led up to the main entrance. The Capitol Building's dome towered above it all, glinting in the sunlight. Diplomatic guests mingled to and fro, no doubt happily anticipating the party ahead. Catra had a feeling they'd be disappointed. 

_"So, what are we looking for?"_ Cox asked.

"I'm not sure exactly. I'm pretty sure the Horde has already scouted this place out," she admitted, although she didn't tell him how she knew, "who knows what they could have gotten up to."

 _"Planted bombs, no doubt,"_ he speculated. _"Any sign of the Etherians?"_

"Doesn't look like they're here yet."

_"OK, well how about this: I'll send Ted to search for those bombs or whatever. You stay here and keep an eye on the crowd."_

"Good idea."

While Ted the drone flew off, Catra scanned the area for a good lookout point. She located a spot on the wall between two closely spaced turrets and gestured for Melog to follow her. The wall was fairly smooth, but she was an expert climber and found plenty of hand and footholds--where there weren't any, she simply dug her claws in. She'd done stuff like this on multiple jobs, but still her arms and shoulders were straining by the time she reached the top. She looked around for Melog, only to hear a mew and found that they had beaten her there. "How did you--never mind," she said, and hauled herself up.

From this vantage point, she had a good view of the whole courtyard and could spy on all the guests. Melog nudged her and she told them, "I'll be fine here. You go check for bombs."

They mewed and ran off. The invisibility faded from Catra as they left, but as long as nobody looked up she would be fine. She scanned the area, looking for suspicious figures, but all of the guests seemed like perfectly normal, blissfully ignorant people. So she sat back and waited for the Etherians to show up, trying to tamp down her nerves.

At first coming here seemed like the obvious choice--indeed, the **only** choice. But now that she was here, alone with her thoughts, the full weight of what was happening came crashing in. For two years she had survived without a past, and she had struggled, sure, yet she had coped--built a life for herself, even. Now though, the past she had run from for so long was catching up to her... and from what she could tell, it wasn't all that good. She would be lying if she said she wasn't afraid. But whatever the past entailed, she could hide no longer. She had to face it. For better or for worse, everything would change today.

 _"Heads up,"_ Cox said, interrupting her brooding. _"Etherian ship incoming."_

Catra craned her neck to the sky and spotted a black diamond-shaped ship inbound. "You're sure that's them?"

_"The media seems to think so. But boy, I am underwhelmed. Never expected the heroes of the universe to fly in on a piece of garbage like that."_

The ship touched down on the landing bay, dropping out of Catra's sight behind the wall. She didn't realize she was holding her breath as she waited for them to enter the courtyard. When they did, she almost lost them in the mob of people that instantly surrounded them. 

There was a tall, muscular woman with a red exoskeleton and a barbed tail--that would be Princess Scorpia. The girl with purple hair that seemed to have a mind of its own and holding a data pad was Princess Entrapta. The sparkly one was no doubt Queen Glimmer, and the man beside her with the bow and arrow must be... well, Bow. A jolt went through her when she saw the Horde clone, but then she remembered what the news anchor had said about a defector. But her eyes went past all of them and landed on the girl in a red jacket, with blonde hair and blue-gray eyes. 

Adora. 

Catra had expected a swell of emotions, possibly cluing her in to how she was supposed to feel about this girl. Instead there was just more confusion. So she changed the subject, asking Cox, "how are things looking on your end? Find anything?" 

_"Zip, zilch, nada,"_ he replied, _"either the Horde is pretty sneaky or we overestimated them."_

She frowned. From what she had seen, it definitely wasn't the latter. What were they missing? 

"Keep trying," she told him. 

Catra observed the proceedings from her perch. Governor Anidala, a tall, dark-skinned humanoid with long white hair, came forward and shook the Etherians' hands, shooing the crowds away from them. Catra scowled with impatience as their conversation dragged on. She couldn't shake the feeling that something was about to happen, and she felt a little useless just sitting there watching boring diplomats chat. Maybe she should go help search for bombs. But if something important really was about to go down, then she wanted to be here for it. 

Or maybe she just didn't want to let Adora out of her sight. That could be it too. 

Finally, the governor led the Etherians up the stairs, where a podium was set up at the top. She stood behind it and began a speech: "we are honored to welcome the conquerors of Horde Prime to Golmeyer. We are grateful to them for the work they have done for the universe, including restoring magic to our very own planet. As you all know, the restoration of our Quadrant after the empire's downfall is a matter of great import to me..." And so she droned on and on. 

_"Uh, Catra?"_ said Cox, breaking through the monotony. _"It's probably not important, but my radar just picked up a pretty big ship dropping out of FTL."_

__

__

"So? Probably just another partygoer."

_"Well, yeah, except that it's late and a lot bigger than most of the other models here, so since we're on the lookout for suspicious activity I though I'd mention it..."_

Catra glanced toward the sky, but after a moment there were still no Horde craft swooping down to rain fire on them, so she said, "well, keep an eye on it. It might be nothing." 

She turned her attention back to the ground, and immediately noticed that something was off. A minute ago the Queen of Brightmoon had been standing to Anidala's left, but now she was gone. Catra leaned forward, wondering where she went--and almost as if on cue, there was a flash of light and a twinkling noise behind her and a voice exclaimed, _"You?!"_

She shot to her feet and whirled around, and sure enough, there was the queen, gaping at her with a mix of shock and suspicion on her face. "Oh hey, hi, Your Majesty," Catra stuttered, "this is--I'm, uh, part of the, um, security team." OK, so not her smoothest alibi. The queen certainly didn't buy it. 

"What are you doing?" she demanded. 

Catra decided to switch tactics. She adopted a sly smirk and said, "alright, you caught me, Queen--what was it again? Glitter? Shimmer? Sparkles?" 

"Don't play dumb, Catra! You disappear for two years and them just turn up out of nowhere? What's your game?" 

Catra froze, caught off guard. "How do you know my name?" 

Glimmer frowned. "What?" 

But before either of them could say anything more, all hell broke loose. Catra's chip sparked, sending pain shooting through her entire body. She gasped and fell to her knees. 

_\--a swarm of fighter craft being released from a great warship, zooming down toward the target below--_

Unaware of the danger, Governor Anidala went on with her speech: "the universe looks in gratitude to these people. They are a shining example of what resistance to Horde Prime can accomplish..." 

Queen Glimmer was kneeling in front of her, calling her name. Catra was vaguely cognizant of Cox nervously jabbering into her earpiece, _"Catra? That big ship just released a bunch of little ships. I think we're under attack!"_

"Yes, I'm aware!" she shouted at him, earning a confused look from Glimmer. 

_\--the vessel had been activated. The message would be heard._

Below, the governor's address had changed tone: "...and so they will be the first to fall. All rebellion against Horde Prime must be punished. Do not be like these so-called heroes..." 

The Etherians exchanged shocked looks, the Adora pounced. She shoved Anidala down against the podium. The governor kept on speaking as if she hadn't noticed. "Do not resist. Join us in Horde Prime's light..." 

Adora pulled back her hair and gasped. "She's been chipped!" 

Glimmer looked back and forth, torn between going to help her friends and figuring out what was wrong with Catra, who was still spasming and grunting in pain. 

_\--they dove toward the target, ready to rain down fire and destruction--_

Catra gasped and her eyes flew open. She yelled, _"get down!"_ and tackled Glimmer just as the first blast obliterated the wall behind them. 

"Oh great!" the queen cried. "That's two I owe you now!" 

Catra didn't stop to think about what that meant; she was already leaping off the wall. She landed lightly on her feet and sprinted forward. Behind her she heard Glimmer teleport and shout, "hey, wait!" but she didn't look back. 

_"Catra!"_ Cox hollered. _"What's happening? Are you alive? What do you want me to do?"_

"Bring the ship in!" she shouted back. "Don't you recognize an immediate evac when you see one?" 

_"Right right, okay, I'm coming!"_

Catra wove through the crowd, dodging the screaming guests. The Etherians seemed to have taken control of the situation, directing people towards exits while fighting back against the Horde. Tall, white robots dropped from the ships and drones buzzed overhead, but they fell left and right at the rebels' hands. Bow fired off arrows at rapid speed, every shot dead accurate; Scorpia downed whole ships with red bolts of lightning... and of course there was She-Ra, a glowing archetype laying waste to the attackers--all with Governor Anidala slung over one shoulder. None of the noticed Catra in the chaos, as she shoved through the fleeing masses, wincing as her chip continued to spark. 

Over the noise, she heard a familiar voice call to her. Turning, she saw Melog running toward her, not even bothering to go invisible. She cried their name in relief and met them halfway. They mewed urgently and she nodded. "Yeah, I know. This is pretty bad." 

Suddenly, Melog howled a warning. Catra whipped around, coming face-to-face with a Horde bot. She snarled and unsheathed her claws, but no sooner than she had, it turned away. 

_The chip,_ she realized. They didn't target her because they recognized her as one of their own. Well, that was their first mistake. 

She pounced on the bot and ripped through its wiring. It sparked and its lights went dead, falling to the ground with a **clank.**

_"Catra, I'm outside the landing bay. Can you get to me?"_ Cox said. 

"I'm on my way," she replied. 

She and Melog took off, smashing bots and drones as they went. Catra kept stumbling as images flashed across her eyes--views from the Horde clones pressing the attack--but she pushed forward, Melog helping to guide her. But when she was almost at the gate, she spotted something that made her freeze. 

It was She-Ra, cutting through the Horde forces left and right--except there was one bot behind her that she didn't see, charging up its canon. Before she could even think about it, she leapt forward, slicing the bot's head clean off. 

She-Ra spun around, raising her sword--and froze. Her magical form flickered and fell, and she became just regular Adora again, dropping the governor. "Catra...?" 

Catra had imagined this moment, pictured it in her head: the moment when she finally came face-to-face with this girl from her past. The girl who could have been her best friend or her worst enemy, but either way had somehow become the most important person in her life. She had wondered what she would do, what she would say, and had come up with nothing. But now, staring into her wide blue gray-eyes and hearing her name fall from her lips, she knew exactly what to say. 

"Hey Adora." 

The casual phrase seemed to shock her out of her reverie."Wha--you--Catra--how--" Just not enough to form coherent thoughts, it seemed. 

She was interrupted by Princess Scorpia barreling up to her, shouting, "Adora! We need to--" But upon seeing Catra she came to a screeching halt, nearly slamming into the other princess. "WHOA. _Catra???_ You're seeing her too, right? Am I crazy?" 

OK, this was getting ridiculous. "Explanations later," Catra said, both to them and to herself. "For now, follow me if you want to live." With that, she and Melog ran off, not looking back to see if they followed. 

The two princesses exchanged a bewildered place. Then Adora said, "grab the governor," and hurried after Catra, calling through the comms for everyone to rendezvous at the gate. 

Catra and Melog reached the gate first and halted under the shelter of its arch, breathing heavily. They turned as the Etherians converged on them, shouting to one another. The archer started to say something to Adora, but froze when he noticed Catra. _"You?!"_

"Yeah, me," she replied, even though she had no idea how all these people knew her. She supposed she must have had some interaction with them if they were Adora's friends. 

"Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that?" Glimmer muttered. 

The purple-haired princess caught sight of her last. "Oh look, it's Catra!" she exclaimed. "Hi Catra!" 

"I'm so confused!" Sparkles yelled. "What is going on?" 

"We'll figure it out later!" Adora interjected. "Right now, we need to take out the rest of these ships!" 

"I'm afraid that will not be possible." This came from the crisply dressed Horde clone whom they were not eviscerating. Herbert, Catra figured. "We are far outnumbered, and they will stop at nothing. The innocents have been evacuated. We must flee!" 

"It does seem the logical course of action," Entrapta put in, "but by my calculation we only have a 1.139745 percent chance of making it across the landing bay without being disintegrated by blaster fire." 

"Those are not great odds," mumbled Bow, and Glimmer groaned, "why did we park so far away?" 

While they were conversing, Catra looked out across the open space and spotted Cox's ship, hovering just under the cover of the trees. Through her earpiece, she said, "Cox, I'm at the gate; I can't reach you. Can you bring the ship any closer?" 

_"I can try,"_ he answered. 

The ship rose and shot forward. It weaved expertly through the chaos, dodging lasers and enemy ships alike. Catra grinned. Cox was the best pilot in this galaxy. If anyone could make it, he could. 

She must have really jinxed it. Out of nowhere, a missile streaked toward the ship. "Cox, look out!" 

He veered to avoid it, but it tracked him. He spun and wove, but couldn't shake it. At the top of a loop, it caught him, and the ship went up in a fiery explosion. 

"COX!" she screamed. But relief coursed through her an instant later when she spotted his hoverchair streaking through the air towards her. He'd managed to eject in time. He came to rest beside her, his eyes bulging and his mouth agape. 

"THEY BLEW UP MY SHIP!" he bellowed. 

Catra threw up her hands. "Great. Now what?" 

Entrapta spoke up. "I got this." She whistled piercingly and shrieked, _"hey Darla!"_

Immediately the diamond-shaped ship activated and zoomed toward them, smashing anything in its path and stopping before them with its ramp lowered. 

Catra stared at her. "You couldn't have done that earlier?" 

"Oh I was going to, but you seemed to have it under control." 

With no time to argue further, the group rushed up the ramp and into the spacious cockpit of the ship. "Darla, get us out of her!" Adora commanded. 

The ship flew into the sky at breakneck speeds, outrunning the dozens of Horde vessels on their tail. Catra leaned against the console as pain encroached her. 

_\--a giant ship floating in the void like a nest for hornets--_

_\--a crowd of clones roaring and raising their fists in the air for victory--_

They exited the upper atmosphere and a robotic voice asked, _"would you like me to engage Faster Than--"_

"YES!" 

The FTL engine hummed to life and they disappeared into the void of space. 

It was suddenly quite as they all breathed a collective sigh of relief. Catra groaned softly and straightened as the pain receded. 

"You okay?" Cox inquired. 

"I'm fine. You?" He nodded mutely and wiped his eyes. "I'll be okay." He hugged his drone. "At least I still have Ted." 

She patted his shoulder awkwardly. "It was a good ship." The she turned to face the Etherians. "So--" 

Before she could get any farther, Scorpia cried her name and grabbed her in a crushing embrace. Catra yelped and shoved away, her claws involuntarily extending. "Hey! What are you doing?" 

Still grinning hugely, Scorpia responded, "come on, Catra. You know I'm a hugger!" 

"No, I don't. I don't even know who you are." 

The stunned silence that followed could have rivaled the emptiness of space itself. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized halfway through writing this that Glimmer would need to be on a magic planet in order to teleport, so I had to change it so Golmeyer already had magic restored to it. Guess that means I'll have to go back and edit chapter 3 at some point. 
> 
> But meanwhile, it looks like Catra and the BFS have some serious catching up to do! I've been aiming to update once a week, so hopefully you can expect a new chapter soon!
> 
> Constructive criticism, kudos, and comments are always appreciated. Hope you guys are enjoying this!


	5. Chapter 5

The clone was the first to break the silence. "I don't know you either. But I am pleased to make your acquaintance! I am Herbert."

Everyone ignored him, but it was like he'd flipped a switch. They all started talking at once.

Bow: "OK, didn't see that coming."

Glimmer: "Nope, not buying it."

Scorpia: "What do you mean you don't know who I am? It's me!"

Entrapta (into a recorder): "subject appears to be experiencing a degree of memory loss, but evidence is insufficient to determine if amnesia is partial, whole, permanent, due to injury, technology, or even *gasp* some yet undiscovered effect of long-term exposure to space! I must gather more data!" She shoved the recorder in Catra's face--"tell me everything!"--only to be pushed away.

Cox: "Fun crowd, huh?"

Melog curled around her legs and hissed at them.

Only Adora remained quiet. When the rest of the chatter had died away, she finally spoke. "You mean... you mean you don't remember us?"

Catra shrugged, trying not to betray her nerves. "'Fraid not."

"But...but you knew my name."

"You were on the news," she lied, now ready to divulge **that** piece of information yet.

"Why should we believe you?" Glimmer challenged. "How do we know this isn't some trick?"

Cox broke in. "I vouch for her."

All eyes turned to him with a bit of surprise, as if they hadn't noticed he was even there. "And you are...?" the queen prompted.

"Oh, right," Catra said, "this is Cox. My getaway pilot."

"Partner in crime."

"Same difference."

"The point being," he continued, "I've known Catra for the past couple years. So unless she's got some really convoluted plot going on that involves lying about having amnesia to someone who's got no affiliation with any of you whatsoever for two standard years, the yeah, I'd say she's probably actually got amnesia."

"Thank you, Cox," she said.

Scorpia stuttered, "but--but--I don't understand. How?"

"It is Prime's will." They jumped and spun toward the speaker. It was governor Anidala, sitting up on the floor. The entirety of her eyes--pupils, irises, whites--had become green. "All beings must suffer to become pure, all beings must suffer to become pure, all beings must suffer to become pure..."

"That is messed up," Cox muttered.

Bow grabbed a rag and stuffed it into the governor's mouth. "We'll take care of you in a minute."

"But what does she mean 'it is Prime's will?'" Adora wondered. They all turned back to Catra and caught her rubbing the back of her neck.

"Wait a minute," Glimmer murmured, "on the wall--that weird seizure you had..."

"Again?" Cox exclaimed. "Your epilepsy really chooses the worst times to act up."

"Epilepsy? Since when do you have epilepsy?" Scorpia demanded incredulously. 

"Uh, ever since I've known--"

"Cox, I think it's time I came clean to you," Catra interrupted him. "I don't have epilepsy."

He gasped. "You _lied_ to me?!"

"You know I'm a liar!"

"I thought you were my friend," he lamented, "but Ted is the only one I can trust!" He spun his chair around, turning his back to her.

After a brief pause, Catra prompted, "I know you just lost your ship... but are you done?"

With that, he twirled back around and inquired, "but if you don't have epilepsy, then what's the deal with your random episodes?"

She hesitated, but felt the pressure of seven sets of eyes on her and accepted that there was no getting out of this. So she reluctantly confessed, "the hallucinations and the amnesia are both caused by this." She turned around and lifted her hair, revealing the sliver of metal in her neck.

There was a collective intake of breath from the Etherians. Cox _oooh_ ed but didn't quite make the connection. "That's a...um..."

"It's a Horde chip!" cried Entrapta, scurrying up to Catra to examine it. "Of course! I understand now! The chip is directly embedded in the subject's nervous system, as evidenced by previous examinations, thereby connecting it to the brain and enabling total mind control; of course, Horde Prime acted as the primary control server so the chips lost that function when he was killed which is probably why the chip has not permeated the subject's entire nervous system, but the individual chip would still connect to the others to an extent and suppress memory--genius!"

Catra had to keep dodging around her while she spoke, as she kept trying to grab at the chip; finally, though, she sprang away from the princess. "Okay, enough!"

"Well I get it now," Cox said, "but why didn't you tell me that earlier?"

"Because I thought you would turn me in," she replied.

"But I didn't!"

"And I know that now, but I had no reason to think that you wouldn't before. After all, who would trust a Horde soldier?"

Glimmer stepped forward. "But you're not."

Catra frowned at her. "What?"

"You weren't a Horde soldier--at least not in Prime's army. He captured you and chipped you when you fought against him."

Catra's eyes widened as she took in this information. Somehow, it felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. "I...really?"

Glimmer nodded and opened her mouth as if to say more, but a voice behind them said, "you are wrong."

It was the governor again, evidently having spat out the rag. "We are all servants of Horde Prime. Soon the universe will see the error of its ways and return to the light. For Prime casts out the shadows, casts out the shadows, casts out the shadows..."

"Can we please get her out of here?" Cox begged.

"Agreed," said Adora, "Herbert, can you take Anidala to the med bay so Entrapta can remove the chip?"

"With pleasure," the clone said. He picked up the governor and walked out, telling her, "fear not, my friend, you shall soon be free of Horde Prime's tyranny..."

Entrapta waved goodbye and followed him, calling over her shoulder, "bye Catra! Great catching up!"

After that, they stood in awkward silence for a moment until Bow said, "on that note, I should probably get in touch with the Quadrant police...or something." When no one objected, he departed.

Glimmer glanced between Adora, Scorpia, and Catra. "You know what? I should contact my dad. Let him know we'll be gone longer than we thought." Without waiting for a response, she too left.

That left Adora, Scorpia, Catra, and her companions. Adora cleared her throat and asked, "so, Cox, right? How'd you two meet?"

"That's actually kind of a funny story," Catra replied with a smile.

"Oo, oo, I'll tell it!" Cox exclaimed. "Okay, so I was in the Oria sector for a smuggling job, right, pretty standard cargo run--"

Scorpia interrupted. "Um, isn't smuggling illegal?"

Catra was the one who answered with a wicked smirk: "only if you get caught."

Adora muttered something like, "why does that not surprise me," and Cox went on with his story.

"Anyway, I arrived at the pickup zone but Catra was already there; she'd been hired by someone else for the same job. So naturally we started arguing about who had the better claim to it, but before we could reach a civilized accord, **boom!** Pirates showed up! So we teamed up in the face of a mutual enemy, and they were no match for us; we fought them off!"

"You mean we grabbed as much cargo as we could and booked it," Catra corrected. 

"Shush, I'm telling the story. But yeah, the point is we made a pretty good team, so the next job she needed a pilot and came to me and we've been partners ever since."

"Mm-hm. Good for you," Adora said, but she peering at Cox in a way that was almost scowling. He squirmed under her intense scrutiny. Scorpia, too, glanced back and forth between him and Catra with an unreadable expression. 

"And who's this?" Adora finally prompted (to Cox's relief), gesturing at Melog. They had been crouched behind Catra this whole time, not drawing attention to themself.

"This is Melog," Catra introduced.

"Aww, they're so cute!" Scorpia cooed. She took a few steps forward but threw up her pincers and backed off when they hissed.

Adora, however, knelt down to their level and crept forward cautiously. At first, Melog turned red and growled, which in turn made Catra tense up defensively, but the princess whispered soothingly, "it's okay. I'm not going to hurt you." She slowly stretched out a hand. "You're magic, aren't you? Me too." Her eyes lit up blue.

At this, Melog calmed and sniffed her hand. Then they came out from behind Catra and nuzzled her affectionately. Adora laughed.

"Well, how about that," Catra murmured. "They don't normally take to new people,"

"Yeah, no kidding," Scorpia muttered. 

"Where did you find them?" asked Adora.

"More like they found me, on a planet called Krytis."

She looked up in shock. "Krytis? But--but we went to Krytis! You were there?"

Catra shrugged, still guarded. "I woke up there two years ago wearing a Horde uniform. I met Melog an shortly after discovered that a group of smugglers was using it as a pickup spot. They took one look at the Horde symbol and pulled their guns on me, but thanks to Melog's invisibility magic we stowed away on their ship. You must have just missed us."

Adora's jaw flapped up and down wordlessly. Scorpia filled in for her: "that is beyond frustrating."

Adora took a deep breath and stood, saying, "yeah. But we've found you now. That's all that matters."

She smiled at Catra, a smile that she did not return. "Sure. I guess so."

The smile fell. 

"Hey!" Cox exclaimed. "Is that someone calling me? I'm just gonna go find out." He made a hasty escape.

"Catra--"Adora started.

Catra cut her off by raising a hand. "Look, I'm sure this is all supposed to be well and good (considering that none of you have tried to kill me yet), happy reunion or whatever, but I really don't know you. And if I did, it doesn't count for anything anymore." Even as she said it, she knew it wasn't true. It couldn't be, not when Adora's face had haunted her for the past two years. But that was too much for them to know.

She hesitated for a beat, struggling for words, until she forced out the only thing she could think of: "so just--just leave me alone."

She shoved past them, but couldn't bring herself to leave entirely. So she stood at the window with her back to them, rubbing the back of her neck. Melog brushed against her comfortingly. 

After a moment of heavy silence, Scorpia came up to stand beside her. "Don't worry, wildcat," she said, "as soon as Entrapta is done with the governor, she can remove your chip too. You'll get your memory right back! Everything will be okay."

Catra's eyes widened at the prospect. Remember her life? So suddenly? So unexpectedly?

She wished she could say that the feeling coursing through her was hope... but mostly it was fear.

Fortunately, she was saved from having to answer by the door flying open. Governor Anidala rushed in with Bow on her heels. "Please, you just need to lie down--" he was pleading with her. She wouldn't hear of it.

"She-Ra!" she cried, running up to Adora. "What happened? One minute I'm in my room and the next--"

Adora raised her hands. "Yes, governor, I know. We'll explain everything. You just need to calm down."

"My planet? My people?"

Adora did not answer immediately; she was shaking from stress herself. Scorpia noticed this and swooped in to save her. "I'll take care of this," she promised. She and Bow escorted the governor out.

Adora hugged herself tightly. Inhaled. Exhaled. Turned around and walked up to Catra to stand beside her, but did not speak. Instead, they looked out at the emptiness together.

"Traveling Faster Than Light is strange," she eventually murmured, "no stars."

Catra did not reply, so she went on, almost to herself. "I grew up without stars, so you'd think I wouldn't notice when they aren't there. But I always miss them."

Quietly, Catra asked, "how...how did you never have stars?"

"My planet--Etheria--spent a thousand years in an empty void called Despondos. When we came out of it, and there were stars everywhere..." she shook her head. "It's hard to describe. You live your whole life in darkness, and then suddenly it's all alight. You never quite get used to it."

Catra let the silence drag out, afraid to ask her next question. "Is...do I... do I come from your planet?"

"We grew up together."

Only now did Catra dare to glance over, and she was surprised to find tears shimmering in the princess' eyes. "Catra," she choked out, "I'm so sorry."

"For what?" Her voice was hoarse and her chest was tight.

"For letting this happen," Adora answered, "all of it. After you were captured, we came to rescue you. When I confronted Prime,he had you with him. I saw that you were chipped. But then these clones came and took you away." Her fists were clenched, turning her knuckles white. "He wasn't interested in negotiating once he had me. So I fought him instead. For a long time I hadn't been able to turn into She-Ra, but in that moment I found the strength to transform. I smashed through that whole ship, searching for you, but you were just gone. We barely made it out of there alive."

A raw chuckle escaped Catra's throat. "So I guess after he used me as bait or whatever, I wasn't worth spit to him."

"I'm starting to think I killed him too fast," Adora growled.

Catra looked at her, shaken by the dark statement. Who was this girl, that she cared so strongly for her? And what had Catra done to deserve it?

The anger quickly faded from Adora's face, replaced by sorrow. "I'm so sorry," she said again, "we tried so hard to find you. We tried everything."

"You know I'm wanted in like, seven quadrants, right?" But the joke fell flat, and now the tears were fully streaming down Adora's cheeks. Catra struggled for something better to say, for although she still had no grasp on what this girl meant to her, her heart ached because of those tears. "Well... don't blame yourself. I had a whole universe to disappear into."

The princess gave her a sad smile and wiped her eyes. "Do you want Entrapta to take it out?"

She hesitated, but realized that it was a genuine question. Adora was giving her the choice.

Slowly, she shook her head. "I just need time."

Adora nodded. They stood in silence for a long time before she spoke again. "We should be at a safe distance now. Darla, reduce to Slower Than Light."

The ship complied, and once more they could see the stars.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lots of dialogue in this chapter, so sorry to those of you who like explosions, more of that later! I hope you enjoyed all the backstory here.
> 
> Thank you all for your kudos and the comments you leave; they always make me happy. Constructive criticism is appreciated.


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